Convenience in transactional purchases, whether for products or services, is a useful tool in attracting and maintaining customers for an entity providing products and/or services. With respect to purchases, credit cards and stored value cards have become widely used. Under such systems, a user presents a card or a device with account information. Then upon payment authorization, goods and/or services are purchased. Such systems carry operational situations that may be harmful to both a customer and an entity providing a service and/or product.
Fraud has been increasing steadily under such systems. The actual fraud loss amount in addition to fraud detection capability development to reduce fraud losses are large business expenses. In addition, unauthorized use of credit or debit cards or information associated with such cards has led to an increase in unauthorized identity use. Correction of fraudulent transaction by unauthorized identity use is costly both for a consumer and for entities associated with the fraudulent purchases by the unauthorized individual.
In addition, under such systems, a purchaser has to carry a card or a device to the Point of Sale (POS) to initiate a transaction. If a purchaser wants to purchase a product at a store and forgets her purse with the card or device in it, she cannot complete the transaction. Although new payment technology developments, including touch-less transactions supported by radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in devices such as cell phones, are supported through current networks, a user must still have the RFID chip on her.
FIG. 3 illustrates a card payment system. At 301, a payer presents a card or a device with account information to a merchant. The merchant sends the transaction information on the card or device to a transaction acquiring bank in step 303. Such a situation may occur when a merchant swipes the credit card of the payer in a card reading machine and the data on the card is transferred to the transaction acquiring bank. In 305, the transaction acquiring bank sends a message to the card issuing bank through card networks to request a transaction authorization.
In 307, the card issuing bank issues an authorization to the transaction acquiring bank. Upon receipt of the authorization at the POS in 309, the payer provides a signature or inputs a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to conduct the transaction as an authentication of the payer. The transaction acquiring bank presents the actual charge to the card issuing bank in 311. In 313, the card issuing bank sends the payment to the transaction acquiring bank. In 315, the payer eventually pays the issuing card bank for the transaction and/or acquires debt to the issuing card bank and the merchant eventually receives payment from the transaction acquiring bank. Interchange and processing fees are withheld from the payment prior to crediting the merchants account. The interchange fees cover costs for the transaction including transaction processing and other costs. Such a system demonstrates the need for a card or device for authentication of the payer.
Still further, funding accounts for payments are primarily limited to demand deposit accounts (DDA) (debit card transactions) and unsecured line of credit (credit card transactions). Each funding account requires a different card or account number for use and/or operation. Therefore, if a payer desires to charge different transaction types to different accounts, she has to maintain different payment cards or devices. Such a situation requires a payer to maintain a number of different cards or devices on her person.
Still further, identification of an individual still may not prevent fraud or other illegal activities from occurring. For example, a vault system that includes some type of identification before allowing entry into the vault may be harmed by a number of problems. First, an individual may be forced to open a vault system and an unauthorized user merely follows the person in. Second, in another scenario, a user may legally gain access to the vault and then have to prop the door of the vault open for exiting the vault. Such a scenario allows an unauthorized individual to slip into the vault and take something while the legal individual is occupied carrying items out of the vault. Third, a user may be authorized to enter into the vault but remove nothing or only certain items of known weight. However, without systems of prevention in place, a user may be authorized to enter and then take more than allowed to take with them.
In addition, security of a building can be affected by unauthorized individuals being in unauthorized areas. Locks on doors prevent individuals without keys from entering, but once in, a person can enter areas that she is not authorized to enter. Such a scenario allows a person that has gotten in or successfully bypassed a security measure to move freely about a facility or building. Should she even later be detected, she can exit out of a certain point without restriction.
General retail transactions can force individuals to have to wait for long periods of time. If too long, an individual may choose to take her business elsewhere at that time or even in the future. Still further, even if the individual decides to wait in line the entire time, more time is lost in servicing the individual for her specific need. As such, a customer waits in line and then has to explain the needed service or product when interacting with a person or machine.
Still further, identification of patients in a hospital ensures minimal mistakes with respect to incorrect treatment or medication, in addition to proper location of the patient. A patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease may find herself walking outside of a treatment home or hospital or into areas that she should not be. If a loved one comes to visit, an orderly or other individual may have to take considerable time to locate the patient.